Monday, October 12, 2015

This was the comment of one of the students of the Discipling Marketplace Leaders class held in Kitale, Kenya last week. A trainer with the CMS Kenya (Church Mission Society, associated with the Anglican Church of Kenya), it was her first exposure to the work of Church-based Business as Mission. The comment came after attending a graduation and commissioning service at Faith Tabernacle Church, and witnessing the presence of a number of pastors from other churches as well as a choir from a church across town. "How did all these churches come together to do this?" she asked. "And what did you do to get this to move so quickly and organically to involve so many churches? This is a revolution!"

Sign in Ghana

I smiled as I listened to the DML Kenya staff and the pastor of that church respond to her comments and questions. I smiled because of her comments, and I smiled because of the fact that I didn't need to respond - others were responding more articulately and more passionately than I could. Additionally, I had been able to enjoy the graduation and commissioning without having to sit in the front, do any planning, or any speaking (other than a greeting). I smiled because of what I was seeing happening; what this lady was witnessing was a result of the passion of others for this ministry, backed by the Holy Spirit.

You see, over and over again, I am told that the ministry of Discipling Marketplace Leaders is not a new concept. It is a forgotten truth in need of rediscovery. It is Biblical. It is so evident throughout the Old and New Testament when we look closely and study the Word. And when people see that, the light bulb goes on and they can run with it. And they are!

And now DML is beginning to learn more from those who are implementing. I sat in the Advisory Council meeting in Kitale for DML Kenya and listened with amazement at the learning that was happening on the ground of what works and what doesn't, and the creative ideas to be more effective, especially as it relates to ongoing discipleship. The churches involved understand that this is not a program - it needs to be an ongoing ministry so that "business as mission" doesn't revert back to "business as usual." And I thanked God to be a small part of this work.

Church-based Business as Mission class

This past week I had thirty pastors and trainers take the Church-based Business as Mission class. Two were from Cairo, Egypt. Two were from Tororo, Uganda. Two were from CMS in Nairobi (Rev. Tongoi's organization). Five were from Kisumu, Kenya, having just completed the twelve week class and ready to launch as a center in that city. A number were pastors from area churches who had a member go through the training at another church, and who are now interested in starting this in their own church. It was a beautiful, global class with rich and deep discussions. It was a joy to be a part of this passionate and dynamic group.

Maged and Paula, from Egypt, sharing with the church.

For many in Western Kenya, it was their first time to see Egyptians. It was very cute to see at the graduation that everyone had to have their picture taken with Maged and Paula. I think they enjoyed the attention and the many references to them being a "Pharaoh."

I close today with the following prayer from one of my favorite prayer books Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder. The prayer is called "I Claim Your Power to Create" which reminds me of the creativity in each of us, made in the image of God. People in poverty often find it difficult to release their potential. People in business often get sucked into working only for profit, and miss the opportunity to release their potential and see the image of God in themselves through their work. Yet this is a powerful gift designed to bless this world and help people to flourish.

O Ingenious One,it is not only creation,but creativity that awes me.It is a wondrous, fearsome thing that you share your power to create.O Mysterious One,I shrink from your power, yet I claim it;and it is mine by your genius or madness,this power to speak and have light burst upon a mind or darkness descend upon a heart;this power to make music to which souls dance or armies march;this power to mold and paint and carve and so spin out the stars by which I plot my course to heaven or to hell;this power to hear and touch and taste the love and truth by which life itself is birthed and built, or the hate and lies by which it shrivels and diesO Daring One,it is an awesome power you've shared; and I rejoice in the artists who dare to use their gift to create the beauty which casts this world into a more whole and holy dimension,who dare to breathe visions and vibrations into dullness,as you breathed life into dust.O Gracious One,it is an awesome power you've shared;and I honor your powernot only in pianist, poet, and painter,but in those whose encouragement ignites my heart,whose laughter lights up a room,whose touch fills a void,whose integrity inspires my will,whose commitments build a church,whose compassion builds a community,whose demands stretch my soul,and whose love makes my day;

and I honor your power in those artists of kitchen and office and shop,of courtroom and classroom and sickroom;in those crazy people who somehow know the world is always unfinished, and who happily risk pushing and shoving and tugging and pounding and making love to ituntil it and all of us come out in more glorious shape.

O Ingenious One,it is not only creation, but creativity that awes me.It is a wondrous, fearsome thing that you share your power to create.

Bob Reed

What does it mean to be a "Reed in the Wind?"

From Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey:

The Virtue of Flexibility

Trees look strong compared with the wild reeds in the field. But when the storm comes the trees are uprooted, whereas the wild reeds, while moved back and forth by the wind, remain rooted and are standing up again when the storm has calmed down.

Flexibility is a great virtue. When we cling to our own positions and are not willing to let our hearts be moved back and forth a little by the ideas or actions of others, we may easily be broken. Being like wild reeds does not mean being wishy-washy. It means moving a little with the winds of the time while remaining solidly anchored in the ground. A humorless, intense, opinionated rigidity about current issues might cause these issues to break our spirits and make us bitter people. Let's be flexible while being deeply rooted.

Paying Attention to the Wind

"The wind blows where it wills." That was Jesus, who compared the spirit of God to the wind. The Reeds have followed the Wind from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Monrovia, Liberia, to Accra, Ghana, then to Kitale, Kenya. Now the work of Discipling Marketplace Leaders is spreading through West, East, and Northern Africa, as well as to Central America. Join Renita as she still seeks to understand what it means to be "shaken by the Wind."